Incumbent Democratic Party Conn Scully won a second full term by a narrow margin.

Scully had gained a reputation as a weak mayor[citation needed] and his Republican opponent, wealthy attorney and former Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Harmar Denny (a future Congressman), hammered Scully for being a puppet of the city's increasingly powerful Democratic machine.

Despite these allegations, Scully remained closely aligned with state party chairman (and future mayor) David Lawrence; while this may have cost him some votes, it gave him enough support from the Democrats' New Deal labor base to put Scully over the top.

[1] Republicans contested the result in court, but a judge dismissed the suit.

[2] *These numbers, reported a day after the election,[3] were officially revised later in the month.